NVIDIA Quadro 2000 and Quadro 600 Fermi pro-video cards unveiled

NVIDIA has outed a pair of new Fermi-based professional graphics cards, the NVIDIA Quadro 2000 and the NVIDIA Quadro 600.  Both cards have 1GB of video RAM, while the Quadro 2000 has 192 CUDA processing cores and the Quadro 600 has 96 CUDA cores; both can be used with NVIDIA's 3D Vision system.

The Quadro 2000 has a single dual-link DVI-I port, two DisplayPort, and can output a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600.  It supports OpenGL 4.0, DirectX 11 and has a 128-bit memory interface.  As for the Quadro 600, it has a dual-link DVI-I port and a single DisplayPort – it's a half-height card – but otherwise the same specs.

Both will be showing up in workstations from Dell, HP and Lenovo, together with going on sale individually.  The NVIDIA Quadro 2000 is priced at $599 while the NVIDIA Quadro 600 is $199.

Press Release:

New NVIDIA Quadro Graphics Solutions Bring the Power of the Fermi Architecture to All Engineers, Designers and Animators

Mid-Range and Entry-Level Professional Graphics Solutions Deliver Superior Price-Performance and Computational Visualization Capabilities to Next Generation Applications

SANTA CLARA, CA — (Marketwire) — 10/04/2010 — NVIDIA announced today the expansion of its award-winning line of NVIDIA® Quadro® professional graphics solutions based on the NVIDIA Fermi™ architecture. The mid-range Quadro 2000 with 192 NVIDIA CUDA™ processing cores and the entry-level Quadro 600 with 96 CUDA processor cores now bring the computational and visualization benefits of the breakthrough Fermi architecture to all segments of the market.

The Quadro 2000 delivers 1.5 times the geometry performance of the previous Quadro graphics processing unit (GPU) mid-range solution(1) and utilizes the new NVIDIA Scalable Geometry Engine technology to deliver dramatically higher performance across leading CAD and DCC applications such as SolidWorks and Autodesk 3ds Max.

"We believe the technology that NVIDIA has built into their new Quadro professional graphics, namely the new NVIDIA Fermi architecture, will provide an exceptional solution for SolidWorks users worldwide," said Nick Iwaskow, manager, Alliances, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. "With our expected certification of the Quadro 2000, SolidWorks anticipates the newest Quadro solutions will empower designers and engineers with the finely detailed geometry, real-time simulation and analysis, and high visual fidelity they demand."

The new entry-level Quadro 600 is a flexible half height solution that features the industry's best performance per watt(2) for applications such as Autodesk AutoCAD 2011, and empowers professional designers to interact with models that are twice the size and complexity compared to previous entry-level solutions.

"At last month's GPU Technology Conference, the world learned all about the power of our Fermi architecture and how NVIDIA Quadro GPUs are being used to solve some of the world's most complex problems," said Jeff Brown, general manager, Professional Solutions Group, NVIDIA. "With these new Quadro solutions, we're making this computational horsepower available for all users of professional CAD and content creation software applications."

Both the Quadro 2000 and Quadro 600 feature 1GB of graphics memory and are compatible with the new NVIDIA 3D Vision™ Pro active shutter-glasses solution, providing powerful visualization and analysis in an immersive, high-quality stereoscopic 3D experience.

Designed, Built and Engineered by NVIDIA to the Highest Standards of Quality

Quadro professional graphics cards are designed and built by NVIDIA to provide industry-leading performance, reliability, compatibility and stability when running professional applications. Software companies such as Adobe, Autodesk, Dassault Systemes and SolidWorks consistently certify Quadro professional graphics solutions for their users whose livelihoods depend on them.

The NVIDIA Quadro 2000 and Quadro 600 are built on industry standards, including OpenGL 4.1, DirectX 11, Shader Model 5.0, DirectCompute and OpenCL. They also leverage the NVIDIA CUDA parallel computing architecture that enables dramatic increases in computing performance. Featuring 30-bit color fidelity (10-bits per color), these Quadro solutions enable the display of billions of color variations for rich, vivid image quality with the broadest dynamic range. Both the Quadro 2000 and Quadro 600 are PCI Express 2.0 compliant, and feature an ultra-quiet design, with tailored acoustics for an ultra-quiet desktop environment.

The newest line of Quadro GPUs leverages the CUDA parallel processing architecture and NVIDIA Application Acceleration Engines to enable the world's fastest performance across a broad range of applications. Additionally, these new solutions feature NVIDIA Mosaic Technology(3), which will enable any application to utilize one or more Quadro professional graphics solutions to scale across up to eight high-resolution displays. Whether the application is CATIA, 3ds Max or PowerPoint or Google Earth, users just simply hit the Maximize button and the application will seamlessly span across all connected displays.

"As the world's leading workstation brand, Dell Precision workstations are designed from the ground up specifically for professional users who demand the ultimate in performance of their systems, graphics and ISV application integration," said Greg Weir, senior manager, Dell Precision Workstations Product and ISV Marketing. "NVIDIA Quadro GPUs, combined with our Dell Precision workstations, deliver on those expectations with exceptional value, superior performance, and broad application support for all segments of the market."

Availability and Pricing

The Quadro 2000 ($599 MSRP, USD) and Quadro 600 ($199 MSRP, USD) are available from leading global workstation manufacturers, including Dell, HP and Lenovo, as well as authorized distribution partners including: PNY Technologies in North America and Europe, ELSA in Japan, and Leadtek in Asia Pacific.

To learn more, visit: www.nvidia.com/quadro. Follow NVIDIA Quadro on YouTube, and Twitter: @NVIDIAQuadro.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to the power of computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Since then, it has consistently set new standards in visual computing with breathtaking, interactive graphics available on devices ranging from tablets and portable media players to notebooks and workstations. NVIDIA's expertise in programmable GPUs has led to breakthroughs in parallel processing which make supercomputing inexpensive and widely accessible. The company holds more than 1,100 U.S. patents, including ones covering designs and insights which are fundamental to modern computing. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.

(1)Based on millions of triangles drawn per second compared with the Quadro FX 1800.

(2)Based on 40W maximum power consumption of Quadro 600 vs. 69W maximum power consumption of AMD FirePro V4800.

(3)Mosaic Technology will be available with upcoming NVIDIA Quadro driver releases in late Q4 2010.